Longing for You (Part 3)
The closer they got to Ji Qingzhou, the clearer the dream became, and the more complete the story became.
After that day, she never saw Ji Qingzhou again during the day.
Ji Qingzhou only told her that she had been very busy lately.
She didn't see him until she went to bed; she only knew that he had come back that night.
Aside from the messages that appeared at night, there was also Aunt Lin who came to cook on time; everything seemed to have returned to the time before Ji Qingzhou came back.
Aunt Lin, who doesn't talk much and just works quietly, has become more talkative lately.
He reminded An to eat more, to eat on time every day, including at the company, and not to eat perfunctorily. He also told her to let him know if there was anything she wanted to eat.
An already regretted it; she shouldn't have asked those questions that day, so she told Ji Qingzhou not to say anything.
An checked the time; it was already midnight, and Ji Qingzhou still hadn't returned.
She mustered her strength and continued to struggle with those few threads.
She found a few light pinkish-blue thin ropes from Ji Qingzhou and tried to braid them according to the way Huaichuan had taught her.
No matter how she tried to weave them, the threads became a tangled mess in her hands, neither flowers nor leaves.
An frowned, tossed aside the ball of thread, and went to sleep.
Ji Qingzhou tiptoed back to her bed and lay down next to An Yi.
He placed An Yi's phone on the bedside table and then put her hand under the covers.
"Ji Qingzhou..."
An, still heavy with sleep, called out his name.
Ji Qingzhou's back stiffened for a moment, then relaxed.
Confirming that An was still somewhat conscious, Ji Qingzhou responded softly.
The hand that Ji Qingzhou had placed under the blanket reached out again, as if to confirm, and grabbed Ji Qingzhou's arm.
Are you avoiding me?
She couldn't open her eyes properly; only a narrow slit was visible.
Ji Qingzhou swallowed slowly. He was indeed avoiding the question, but he didn't want to answer it that way.
He turned to the side and placed one hand on An Yi's hand.
He didn't mean to avoid her.
An waited for a while but there was still no sound, so she asked again, "Are you with me because you like me?"
"yes."
Ji Qingzhou sighed softly. Could it be because of something else?
An exclaimed in confusion, "Ah!" Wasn't it because of her confession?
It's like a misunderstanding that's been kept silent for a long time, which could be easily resolved by simply opening one's mouth.
But if we do it all over again, the story should start the same way.
He dared not ask, and she dared not speak.
An Yi's breathing gradually became even. Before she completely drifted off to sleep, she heard him ask, "So, the person you like is that old friend?"
Huaichuan?
Ji Qingzhou asked her if she liked Huaichuan.
How absurd! A physics PhD student actually asked his girlfriend if she liked the person in his dreams.
An Yi's mind went blank for a moment, and she let out a long sigh.
Finally, he turned over, his back to Ji Qingzhou, and entered the dream.
It was a white horse.
Huai Chuan would sometimes ride a horse to find her.
Sometimes I would lift her onto a horse, stroll around with an oil-paper umbrella, and gallop with her through the misty rain.
He even took her to a military camp.
The soldiers in the camp respected him greatly, respecting the young general who had achieved great military exploits.
He said the horse was his brother, with whom he had shared life and death, and that if he were to pass away one day, the horse would never live on its own.
That horse carried the young general across the land, never suffering a defeat.
However, this time, they lost.
The horse was on its last legs, and it couldn't even bring its master back.
A-Yun's tears fell drop by drop; her crying was silent.
His appearance foreshadowed the ending.
He broke his promise, and even if she waited three, five, or ten more years, no one would come to marry her.
Ah Yun knelt on the ground, hugging the horse and stroking it again and again.
After its last whimper, the horse died.
A-Yun took out what the horse was holding in its mouth: a crabapple blossom bracelet dyed bright red.
A-Yun counted them, and she smiled; there were still twenty-one and a half.
There's still plenty of rope left, more than enough. Just a little bit more.
She didn't know what had happened to the horse, nor did she know why Huai Chuan, who had never been defeated, had died in this battle.
All she knew was that he had said he had resigned from his post and had also requested the emperor to grant him a marriage.
He said the emperor had agreed to all of these requests, promising to grant them all after the war was over.
How could this happen? Ah Yun was pressed against the horse's head, how could this happen...?
She was unwilling to give up; it was so close!
When An woke up in the morning, she found only one person in bed. A few wrinkles on the other side of the bed proved that Ji Qingzhou had been there.
Her mind was hazy. The heart-wrenching pain in her dream—was it her past life or just a dream?
Is that Huaichuan, or Ji Qingzhou, or Huaichuan with Ji Qingzhou's face?
An had already left the bedroom and saw the things on the table.
Ji Qingzhou had somehow managed to braid those few strands that she had tangled together.
A crabapple blossom bracelet lay quietly on the table.
An paused for a moment, as if verifying something, then quickly walked over and picked up the braided rope to count the flowers on it.
No more, no less, a total of twenty-one flowers.
It was as if something had struck her heart heavily, causing it to leap twice with extreme heaviness. Then, it began to fall, like the blooming crabapple blossoms in her dream, swaying in the wind and scattering petals everywhere.
She closed her eyes, covered them with one hand, and pressed her temples.
The darkness of the world actually made the tactile sensation in my hands feel even more real.
The number twenty-one kept running through her mind.
She took out her phone and opened her chat with Ji Qingzhou. They chatted infrequently, and each time they contacted each other, it was for important business.
The last time they chatted was when An had discovered that Ji Qingzhou was avoiding her and asked him when he was going home.
Ji Qingzhou quickly replied with a message, but he retracted it. She only saw the following sentence: "It will be very late today."
An was already feeling a bit helpless. Her fingers flew across the screen, typing, "Let's talk," she said, pausing for a moment before sending the message.
I thought I would receive Ji Qingzhou's message later, but I didn't expect him to reply almost instantly this time.
"I'm on a business trip."
An had originally wanted to ask when he would be back, but after thinking about it, she decided against it.
Let's talk about it when he gets back. Important things should be discussed in person. Their beginning was already rushed enough; let's not let it end like this. Otherwise, things will become unclear and unresolved later.
Her mind was in turmoil, a jumble of thoughts, like a begonia flower bracelet she couldn't weave properly.
Perhaps it's time to end this relationship.
She had originally thought that Ji Qingzhou would bring it up first, or rather, she felt that Ji Qingzhou would bring it up before her.
Ji Qingzhou seems to like her a little. He treats her very well, both before and after they got together.
He's not a bad person.
But she was getting confused. Was it Ji Qingzhou or Huai Chuan? Did she like Ji Qingzhou...?
She sighed silently, her breath falling into the quiet room without making a sound.
Did she act impulsively a year ago?
An paused for a moment when she saw Huai Chuan at the company.
Huai Chuan seemed to be waiting for An Yi. When she looked over, she caught An Yi's gaze with a hint of a smile.
The company leaders were introducing this young and promising new supervisor.
Cod whispered in An's ear, "He's most likely after you!"
“No,” An Yi said. She had never imagined that she had such great ability that she could make someone chase her all the way to the company.
Contrary to what the cod had predicted, Huai Chuan did not rush to find An Yi.
He summoned An to his office three days after he took office.
An knocked on the door and entered, asking, "President Huai, what is it?"
Instead of answering, Huai Chuan asked, "I just arrived and have been quite busy these past few days. You're not angry, are you?"
An frowned slightly: "No, that's not true. May I ask what Mr. Huai wants?"
Huai Chuan paused for a moment, looking around, and finally found a PowerPoint presentation on the computer. "You need to revise this. Give it to me in a bit," he said, pointing to another computer in the office. "Go there. It'll be easier for us to communicate that way."
After An finished making preparations, Huaiqian raised some more questions.
During that time, Cod came in once, and his gaze had a hint of visiting someone in prison.
After finishing the PowerPoint presentation, it was already half an hour before I was supposed to leave work.
Huai Chuan checked the time: "Oh dear, it's so late, let me take you home."
Just as An was about to refuse, there was a knock on his office door.
Codfish came in halfway: "President Huai, it's been a long time since I left work, can I leave now?"
Huai Chuan was taken aback: "Sure." He hadn't made the department work overtime today.
Cod immediately waved to An: "Let's go, we can finish what we haven't done tomorrow."
Huai Chuan then realized what was happening and said, "An and I are going the same way, I'll take her home."
Cod made a surprised and delighted expression, "President Huai is so kind! Would it be convenient for you to give me a ride? I'm going in the same direction as An!"
Now that they've come all this way to the cod, An can no longer refuse.
Huai Chuan glanced at An Yi and said generously, "Okay, no problem."
He tried to strike up a conversation with An Yi the whole way, but there were too many obstacles to his attempts.
Firstly, An Yi's reaction was lukewarm; she never really had anything to say to Huai Chuan. Secondly, there was Xueyu. Xueyu stole many of the questions Huai Chuan posed, and she chatted enthusiastically about topics from their school days, as if she and Huai Chuan were classmates.
Huai Chuan's face darkened, and he stopped talking.
Cod and An were indeed going the same way, but Cod's home had four more traffic lights than An's.
It was rush hour, and taking the subway was okay during the four traffic lights, but driving was a nightmare.
Huai Chuan always maintained a professional and impartial attitude towards An Yi.
When official business is handled too strictly, it becomes obstruction.
As it was nearing the end of the workday, Huaiqian called An Yi into his office: "This plan is unacceptable. Redo it."
Even though An was already very patient and no longer thought about his intentions, she still felt it was unreasonable.
"President Huai, this plan has been revised five times. Could you please state your needs or instructions all at once?"
An's angry expression seemed to amuse Huai Chuan. He pushed aside the documents and said, "You always looked like this when I made you angry. You haven't changed at all after all these years!"
An took a deep breath and suppressed her anger.
She asked directly, "President Huai, did you come to Meikai for me?"
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